Sparkles and Lattes

Friday, January 20, 2023

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday! We don't have anything big going on this weekend other than watching the Niners and Cowboys game. I am very much welcoming an easy weekend and hopefully getting some rest.

Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. Last weekend we celebrated the girls birthday with a roller skating birthday party. It was chaos, but the girls had the best time. I snapped a few photos and we had some great videos on IG, but I don't have copies of those. And some of these are from others.

TWO. On Sunday night, we took the girls to a fancy dinner using money we all got for Christmas. We went to a steakhouse and the girls ate soooo much. The girls and I shared a steak dinner and the staff were so amazing to the girls. They each got their own sorbet palette cleanser and they even upped our portion for our appetizer. Plus they each got a chocolate mousse cake.

THREE. I recently bought myself a Valentine's Day/heart sweater. I had seen it on IG and it wasn't available online until a few days ago. I bought mine in person. I tried on the small, medium and large. I went with the medium and it fits beautifully. The small was just a bit too short on me (I have a long torso). The large is great if you want an oversized fit. But $25 for this sweater is a steal.

Women's Heart Sweater

FOUR. I was at Sephora using gift cards from Christmas and I asked the sales rep about a new primer. I have been using the NYX Marshmellow Primer, but I have noticed that my mascara ends up tinting under my eyes and my face has been greasier in the evening more than usual.

I told her that I tend to have oilier skin and I want all day lasting power. She suggested Milk Hydro Grip Primer. She put some on my hand and it instantly hydrated it. I should tell you that my hands are wrecked in the Winter and so dry. This helped. I walked around grabbing my Eyeshadow Primer and a new foundation brush to see how many hand did with it. I liked it and they have the best return/exchange policy, so I thought why not. I have used it 3 times since then and I really like it. My makeup has lasted all day and not run. I will continue to use it and give a more proper review later.

Milk Hydro Grip Primer

FIVE. Weekly funnies.

Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Vienna, Austria Days 1 - 3

I am finally getting around to my Austria and Poland recaps. I sent myself the photos back in November and never got around to writing about my amazing trip. So here it is. Now hopefully I can remember all the details!

I was on this trip for about two weeks. I traveled to two countries that I had never been to and I would love to go back to them one day with my family. Especially Austria. It was pretty incredible. Now I can't talk about work and the things I do there, but these were all done in the evenings, weekends or on travel days. Enjoy!

After we arrived in Austria, we got checked into our hotel, showered, changed and met up for drinks at Das Loft Restaurant and Bar. One of my co-workers did some research before we went and picked out some amazing tours, bars and restaurants. This one was incredible. It was on the 18th floor and overlooked all of Vienna.

Back before I got my new extensions put in. Notice how short they are here? These are the ones I got for free that ended up breaking just like the pair before them.

After drinks, we walked to Gasthaus Kopp for the "best" Goulash and Wiener Schnitzel. I got the goulash and it was incredible. We all shared some apple strudel and had shots of schnapps (which were very popular in Austria).

This was soooo good. They served it with the best spatzel.

The next day we worked for most of the day and then headed for some sightseeing, some shopping and a special brewery tour. My co-worker set us up an after hours brewery tour with just us co-workers and the attorney on the case (a total of 7 of us).

This was from a stand between our hotel and the subway. They are known for their sausages in bread. I shared mine with the only other woman coworker on the trip. We got the spicy one and it was really good.

Across from the church was a cafe. The guys all got beers while M and I got coffees with ice cream in them....another specialty there.

The place where M got a new purse and wallet.

This area was full of designer shops.

The day I bought my YSL bag. I use this bag every single day and I LOVE it. So worth it.

Very happy and proud!

We hurried back to the hotel to drop our shopping items off and took a taxi to the brewery. We went to Ottakringer Brewery which was beers that we all enjoyed the entire trip.

And that concludes days 1, 2 and 3. Day 1 was our travel day.

Monday, January 16, 2023

Valentine's Day for the Whole Family

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

We are a little less than a month away from Valentine's Day. Now I don't know if you go big in your house for Valentine's Day, but we do not. The girls and I usually wear something festive and Rory wears red or pink in honor of the day. I usually get the girls a few little things to show them that they are my Valentine's and we make a fun dinner at home.

But we do love to dress up for each holiday, so I put together some ideas for the whole family. And yes, men don't have a big spot in here as there is not much for men when it comes to hearts, pink and flowers.

XOXO Shirt | Heart Sweatshirt | Baby Heart Set | Soft Heart Sweater | Love Sweater

Mens Heart PJ Pants | Minecraft Shirt | Heart Dress | Toddler Heart Set | Heart Leggings

Blue Heart Sweater | Pet Heart PJs | Large Heart Sweater | Toddler Heart Dress Set

Blue Heart Sweats | Heart Headband | Pink Heart Sweater | Blue and White Heart Sweater | Multi-colored Heart Leggings

Almost all of these are on sale right now. Use code YAY at Loft. The others are already discounted or automatically change in your shopping cart.

Do you dress up for Valentine's Day? Do you go out or stay in?

Friday, January 13, 2023

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday! And happy Friday the 13th. I can't believe we are already half way through January. We have a lot going this weekend. We have Rory's holiday party (yes, in January as everyone was too busy in December), the girls birthday party and the first 49ers playoff game of the season. Go Niners!

Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. I am trying to get ahead in holiday prep. I was browsing Amazon and I found the perfect Valentine's Day cards/gifts for your kids class. This comes in a box of 60, but with twins, multiple children or events (dance, baseball, basketball, etc.), you can use the whole box.

My girls love these little mochi animals, so this was something fun other than candy because we all know the kids get so much candy on Valentine's Day. It comes with heart boxes and a card plus a mochi for each one. Such a good deal and they are on sale.

Valentine's Day Mochi Valentines

TWO. So remember last week how I said that I was looking for another Stanley water bottle for home? Well I went to Scheel and got one for me, one for a friend and one for her co-worker. They had a bunch at Scheels and I couldn't resist getting one for home.

My water stays cold all day and I actually drink more water. Plus I don't get that awful plastic taste that I get in some water bottles. I have a co-worker who is even more obsessed with them than I am and she bought two more recently. Then another co-worker has an Amazon dupe and she said it isn't as good. Anyways, if you have a Scheels or Dick's Sporting Goods around you, grab one or through my link.

Stanley Adventure Quencher 40oz Water Bottle (Scheels)

Stanley Adventure Quencher 40oz Water Bottle (Dick's Sporting Goods)

Stanley Adventure Quencher 40oz Water Bottle (Target) (Stanley)

THREE. Spanx is having a 30% off sale on some of their favorites. I have the Spanx faux leather leggings which I love (and will be wearing tonight) and I have been eyeing the Spanx Perfect Pant Flares (for work and date night), but they are not on sale. My co-worker swears their work pants are the best and hold up so well. So I decided to grab their Faux Suede Leggings for work and date nights and I can't wait to get them in. I chose the navy ones, but went back and forth between navy and caramel. They are originally $98, but on sale for $68.60 and then I used the extra 10% off after signing up for emails to make them $61.74. Yes, that is still pricey, but she swears by them.

I got a size small regular in the faux leather leggings, but I sized up to a medium tall (I am 5'9") in these based on the reviews.

Spanx Faux Suede Leggings

FOUR. Can I just say how obsessed I am with this Idaho Murders case? It has consumed me. Basically any big case that comes out consumes me lately. I love following along and breaking it all down. I follow AshleyMerry for the latest updates on the case and then research on my own.

This week, I talked to two co-workers who are former FBI agents about the things that I don't understand about the case so far. And yes, I know that the affidavit will only show the bare bones of the case. But the roommate waiting 7 to 8 hours to call 911, I didn't understand. Or how it was done in 15 minutes, etc. Anyways, if you want to chat about it, please comment or email me. I would love to talk more about it!

FIVE. Weekly funnies.